Yep I have a question.. no surprise there I am sure hubby and I brewed our first simple mead which was a JAOM and since we wanted a dryer mead we used less honey and started a second. The first is still clearing since it had more honey.. the second we used less honey and it finished first.. a light clear yellow color, wasn't too hot and has a nice honey finish. Will taste much better in a few months I am sure! My question is this.. we bottled the 5, 750 ml bottles and it looked nice and clear.. still is but with sitting has gotten a small amount of sediment. I am wondering if we should pour it back into a glass gallon jug and re-rack? I am not liking the sediment.. Thanks for the help!

Often times a mead will look realitively clear and still throw off some sediment. The major question is, "Do you like it or not mind?" This you have answered.

So here is my suggestion:
1. Put it back into the caroby, easy, not splasing it
2. Mix in some potasium sorbate to stop the yeast as it sounds like it may still be fermenting a bit.
3. Mix in some hot mix sparkloid, which is a clearing agent.
4. Let sit for 2-3 months, oaking is great at this time (1 oz for 1-5 gal for 2 weeks to a month)
5. Bottle again. It will be a still mead, non-fizzy. But should still taste good.
6. Age it. It may taste good but if you can wait aging it 4-6 months is good, better for a year.

Often times a mead will look realitively clear and still throw off some sediment. The major question is, "Do you like it or not mind?" This you have answered.

So here is my suggestion:
1. Put it back into the caroby, easy, not splasing it
2. Mix in some potasium sorbate to stop the yeast as it sounds like it may still be fermenting a bit.
3. Mix in some hot mix sparkloid, which is a clearing agent.
4. Let sit for 2-3 months, oaking is great at this time (1 oz for 1-5 gal for 2 weeks to a month)
5. Bottle again. It will be a still mead, non-fizzy. But should still taste good.
6. Age it. It may taste good but if you can wait aging it 4-6 months is good, better for a year.

Hope it works out.
Matrix

Thanks will probably put it back in the carboy.. we were looking for a still mead so thats good!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonofgrok

What about the sediment bothers you? Often you end up with sediment even in good expensive commercial wine. Nature of the beast. It really doesn't hurt.

That being said, how long did you bulk age it before bottling?

Just want to make sure Im doing it right..when I saw the sediment even after racking it once I thought maybe I missed a step.. we bulk aged it 2 months.. didnt seem to be doing anything else so we bottled it..

Just want to make sure Im doing it right..when I saw the sediment even after racking it once I thought maybe I missed a step.. we bulk aged it 2 months.. didnt seem to be doing anything else so we bottled it..

You are probably fine then. 2 months should be ok. If you really want to clean it up then you can follow the directions for re-bottling. Your mead should be ok if you just leave it as is though. I would still bottle age it for a bit though. Some people really can't stand anything floating in their wine so don't worry, I get it

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I personally, often rack 2 or 3 times to exclude as much sediment as possible. Then I also will run it through a minijet.

If you are offering it to others to drink or gifting a bottle or two, then like with professional wine makers, its all in the presentation.

Plus most of us don't have either the sort of kit or quantities that the "pro's" do so we will tend to cut corners more to preserve quantity more. Which leads to small sediments, whether in bulk or bottles.

The other thing being, that without research, have you used a yeast known for autolysis ? It's better, to my mind, to get it cleared sooner rather than later, then that becomes a "non-issue"

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